Separating and counting apparatus



May 19, 1964 B. M. CRAIG SEPARATING' AND coumuc APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 7, 1961 .Ffira. 4.

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TOTAL RESULWT I FORCE BYH/S ATTORNEYS HARE/S, K/Ecw; RussL-LL & KER/V 3,133,624 SEPARATING AND COUNTING APPARATUS Burnie M. Craig, Pasadena, Calif., assignor to Mario (le Modena, Pasadena, Calif. Filed Feb. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 87,651 4Clairns. (Cl. 19 840) This invention relates to apparatus for counting articles, and more particularly provides a counting apparatus designed to handle articles of varying shapes and sizes; for

example, medicinal tablets and capsules.

, Equipment is commonly used in industry to relieve workers of the tiring chore of counting. The uses are too numerous to enumerate. In most instances the counting apparatus is limited to handling a particular 7 suitable counting apparatus to be used by the pharmacist in his counting of the variously sized and shaped tablets and capsules that :are commonly marketed. There is a decided need for suitable counting apparatus to relieve the pharmacistof this time consuming task, thus releasing him to more profitable labor in accordance with his skill and training. I

It has been a prerequisite to all counting apparatus that the objects to be counted be aligned in a single file before being presented to the counting means, whether it be a mechanical counter or an electrical counter such as a photoelectric cell. It is this requirement of alignment of the tablets or capsules in a single file that has made difficult the design of a suitable counting apparatus.

It has now been discovered that apparatus may be suitably designed to accomplish the counting of articles of varying sizes and shapes. In the counting apparatus of the invention there is provided a rotatable, cone-shaped platform and immediately above the platform a spiral wall with the center of the spiral generally in the vicinity I United States Patent a continuous thread which serves to control delivery of the articles to the moving platform upon rotation of the hollow cylindrical chute on its longitudinal axis. In

the preferred embodiment, a bin is provided for holding articles with the outlet end of the bin opening into the upper end of the hollow cylindrical chute.

Any of the many counting means or counters now commonly used may be employed. The counting means is normally positioned adjacent the outside end of the helical wall of the counting apparatus. Preferably the apparatus is provided with two removal chutes placed at a slight angle to each other but in a general side-byside relationship with their upper ends opening into a common area adjacent the outside end of the spiral wall.

A gate positioned within this common area serves, with proper positioning, to direct flow of the articles into a selectedone of the two chutes. Means is provided for moving the gate in response to a signal. The counting means is positioned to count movement or articles through the common area and to provide signals to control movement of the gate. I

Other advantages and objects of the invention will becomemore apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of a preferred form of the invention, it being understood that other modifications and changes may be made.

ticularly the relative positions of the spiral wall and coneshaped platform;

of the apex of the conicalplatform and with the lower moving conical platform in contact with the concaveinner surface of the spiral wall. Counting means are provided associated with the platform and wall for counting the aligned articles as they pass thereby. It is desirable to provide on the concave surface of the spiral wall an ocrotating force required to move a tablet against spiral wall casional obstruction. The obstruction may .take the form I of a vertical spline and prevents a pair of tablets or other small objects from moving side-by-side around and down the surface of the cone platform. g

The counting apparatus of the invention has a capacity above which it is incapable of placing the articles in a single file; that is, in the event too may articles are dumped into the center of the spiral wall, the articles will not leave the counter in a single file. To increase the capacity of the apparatus and thus avoidflooding, it is sometimes desirable to limit the rate of delivery of the anticles to the feed area by providing a hollow cylindrical chute above the apex of the cone-shaped platform with the outlet end of the cylindrical chute oriented to direct.

tablets or other articles into thefeed area of the spiral wall. The hollow cylindrical chute is preferably pro vided with internal baffling which may take the form of support rods 1% at their upper surfaces.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, partlyin elevation, taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1; I I

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2; I I

FIG. 4 is a typical acceleration curve of time versus lineal distance traveled which illustrates how any two consecutive articles separate with passage of time;

, FIGS. 5-8 inclusive illustrate how a slight obstruction placed on the concave inner surface of the spiral wall acts to create temporary gapsin the alignment of the tablets or articles to allow stray tablets or articles to move into line;

FIG. 9 is a vector study of the forces involved in a tablet engaging the upper surface of the cone-shaped platform and spiral wall; and I FIGv 10 is another vector study, this time of minimum friction;

,With reference to FIGS. 1-3 inclusive, there is illustrated a counting apparatus It) made up of a movable,

cone-shaped platform 12, a spiral wall 14 vertically spaced above the platform 12 with its lower edge immediately adjoining but out of contact with the upper surface of the platform. As best seen in PEG. 1, the turns of the spiral Wall14 are fixed with reference to each other by six radially-extending rod stabilizers 16 that are welded to the upper edge of the spiral wall. The spiral wall 14 is supported above and free of the platform 12 through two, parallel support rods 18 that are welded to several of the aforementioned rod stabilizers 16. The two support rods 18 at their opposite ends are carried by end support members 20 of a counting apparatus frame 22, each end support member comprising two spaced vertical legs '24 which are tied together at their upper ends by a transversememberZd, which latter member engages the two It will be seen u that the lower edge of the vertically disposed, spiral wall ,14 forms a conical spiral edge 19 that extends downwardly and outwardly in close-spaced relation to the upper surface of the cone-shaped platform 12.

The apex of the cone in which the spiral edge 19 lies is approximately at the apex of the cone-shaped platform 12. The center need not be exactly coincident with the apex of the platform, but may be offset from the apex somewhatand still not interfere with the successful operation of the counting apparatus. The spiral wall 14 of the embodiment illustrated has its whole upper edge at a level above the apex of the cone-shaped platform; however, the upper edge may vary in height but it is conveniently fabricated with a constant height. a

The platform 12 which rests on a small circular subplatform 23 is driven by a speed reducer motor 2;) which is coupled through a vertically disposed shaft 32 to the subplatform 23. The counting apparatus frame 2?; includes a large rectangular horizontally oriented bottom member 3i? which underlies the movable platform 12 and which is supported at its four corners by the vertical legs 24 of the two end support members it The bottom member 3%, as best seen in'FlG. l, is cut away at one of its sides to provide access for two chutes 33 and 34 and their supporting structure ea. As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 thetwo chutes 3 3 and 34 are placed at a slight angle to each other but in a general side-by-side relationship with their upper ends opening into a common area 35 adjacent the outer end of the spiral wall 14- and constituting a counting station as will be described. The two chutes 33 and 3d and the material of I the common area 38 are preferably formed of a clear translucent plastic such as polymethyl methacrylate. A movable gate 42 pivoted at one side of the juncture of the inner walls of. the two chutes 33 and 34 is placed within the common area 33 and is movable through actuation of a linkage 44. The linkage 44 connects to a solenoid 46.

In FIG. 1 the gate 42 is positioned to block entrance to the chute 33, directing flow of articles such as tablets,

capsules or the like leaving the helical wall 14 into the other chute 34 and thence to a container 48.

The chute supporting structure 36 includes a beam 59 held by a bracket 57. to the frame bottom member 3! and a connecting web 5d between the beam 56 and the outside wall of chute A second and thinner web 56 connects the two chutes 33 and 34 at their bottoms.

It will be apparent that the common area 38 or counting station is at the discharge end of a substantially V- shaped groove formed by the inner wall of the turns of the spiral wall 14 and the adjoining substantially conical surface of the platform 1'2. As shown in FIG. 1 the outer turn of the spiral wall 14 extends to the outer-periphery of the platform 12 and forms with the next inner turn a discharge passage discharging articles into the common area 38 in a direction substanitally tangential to the substantially conical surface of the platform as guided by a short tangential wall 46 forming an extension of the outer turn of the spiral wall 14. i

A counting means 58 is positioned at the outside counting station at the outer end of the spiral wall 14 and includes a light source so placed above the common area 38 at the upper ends of the two chutes 33 and 34 and a photoelectric cell 62 placed below the common area 38 and in alignment with the light source 60. It Will be recalled that the chutes are formed of a clear, transparent plastic such as polymethyl methacrylate, commonly known as Lucite. Other types of sensing heads may be employed in the place of the photoelectric head described such as an electrical contact or a mechanical counter. Counter means are well known to the art and, being per so no part of this invention, they will not be discussed in detail. The counting means includes in addition to the photoelectric head or sensing head a totalizer or counter of conventional design. A particularly suitable counter is the Veeder- Root Predetermining Counter, Series 1804, Model R, de-

scribed in the printed Form 227797 of Veeder-Root, In-

acounting means that the material being counted be presented to the means in a single file. The movable conicalshaped platform 12 and the spiral wall 14 of the counting apparatus til of this invention will successfully deliver to the counting station a single file of tablets, capsules or other articles of differing shapes and sizes. In using the counting apparatus of the invention, the pharmacist where the device is being utilized to count capsules or tablets will set the controls of the counter totalizer to the desired number. He will then dump a quantity of the tablets in excess of the desired number in the center or vortex of the spiral wall upon the apex of the conical-shaped platform 12 in the feed area thereof. The rotating platform 12 gradually moves the tablets downwardly and outwardly against the inner or concave side of the spiral wall 14-, gradually bringing about-an alignment of the tablets into a single file. The tablets frequently start grouped erratically in several rows and possibly layers at the cone apex. It has been found beneficial to provide on the concave inner surface of the spiral wall 14 an occasional obstruction us which may take the form of a vertical spline. The obstructions 63 delay the flow of a tablet row engaging the spiral walls inner surface in the fashion shown in FIGS. 58 inclusive, creating temporary gaps to allow stray tablets such as tablet 2 to move into line between tablets 1 and 3 before reaching the outer periphery of the platrorm 12.

The counting apparatus has a capacity above which it may be incapable of placing articles or tablets in a single file. In the event too many tablets or other articles are dumped into the spiral wall vortex, the tablets will usually not leave the device in a single file as required for counting. This condition may be described as flooding. To avoid this situation and in effect bring about an increase in the capacity of the counting apparatus, a chute is pro vided spaced above the cone apex with its outlet end oriented to direct tablets or other articles into the general center of the spiral Wall. Preferably, the chute takes the form of a tilted hollow cylinder 64 provided with internal baffling, which in the particular embodiment illustrated is a continuous groove 66 in the internal wall of the cylinder, extending throughout the lower half of the cylinder. Means are provided, including a motor 68, for rotating the hollow cylinder 64 on its longitudinal axis. The hollow cylinder 64 permits an earlier alignment of the tablets or other articles during their downward course against the spiral wall 14 than is possible in the absence of the hollow cylinder.

The manner of supporting the hollow cylinder 64 is best understood with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The cylinder 64- is supported ateach of its ends by a pair of rollers 70. Each pair of rollers 76 is rotatably held to a rectangularblock 72 which is spaced immediately below and out of contact with the hollow cylinder 64. As best seen in FIG. 3, a heavy wide bracket 74 with an upper downturned end '76 engaging the underside of the rectangular block 72 supports the cylinder 64. The lower end '73 of the bracket '74 is turned inwardly and is bolted to the top side of the horizontally oriented bottom member 30 of the apparatus frame 22. The bracket 74 along its length between its two ends 76 and '78 supports the aforementioned motor 63, a gear reduction box 88, and a driving pulley 82. The driving pulley 82 is connected through a pulley belt 84 to the hollow cylinder 64. Energizing of the motor 68, it will be seen, causes the hollow cylinder 64- to rotate on its longitudinal axis. A bin 88 for holding tablets or other articles is supported by a second and smaller bracket 90 which in turn is supported by the first bracket 74, with the outlet end of the bin opening into the upper end of the tilted hollow cylinder 64.

As the cone-shaped platform 12 revolves, tablets (see FIGS. 9 and 10) bear against the spiral wall 14 due to centrifugal force and inclination of the platform 12. Force W resolves into the force N normal to the cone and the force P radially along the face of the cone. The

centrifugal force P and the force P are additive to form force P Forces P and N combine to form the total resultant force causing the tablets to wedge in the V-shaped groove. The force P times the coefiicient of wall friction tangentially resists linear movement of the tablets, causing them to rotate on their individual axes '(see FIG. These relationships may be expressed as follows:

wherein, P =Total bearing force on wall P =Wall bearing component of weight sliding down inclined cone P =Wal1 bearing component of centrifugal force W=Tablet Weight 0=Angle of cone M Tablet mass V=Linear velocity of tablet R= -Radial distance of tablet from cone taxis Theminimum force F required to move a tablet against the wall friction may be represented by the following formula: I

. form 12 are with time separated. The reason for this gradual separation may be better understood with reference to FIG. 4 which is a graph of the uniform acceleration experienced by tablets moving along the spiral wall 14. The tablets move along the spiral wall 14 because of centrifugal force and inclination of the revolving platform 12. Their linear velocity increases (directly pro: portional to their increased radial distance from the axis of rotation of the platform 12). Thus, the tablets have a linear acceleration. As shown in FIG. 4, because of this acceleration any two or more consecutive tablets will separate after a given time interval.

Although an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications, and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention as deart, said apparatus having a counting means at a counting station, a device for arranging a group of said articles in single file for presentation to said counting station, said device including: a

a unitary platform having an upper substantially-conical sloping surface extending outward and downward from a central apex to a circular periphery as a surface of revolution about a vertical axis;

an upright stationary spiral wall spiralling upward in several spaced spiral turns from an outer turn terminating in an end adjacent said circular periphery and said counting station to an inner turn terminating in an inner end relatively close to said apex at a The foregoing minimum force position less than half the radial distance from said apex to said circular periphery, the space within said inner turn forming a small feed area around said apex, said spiral wall having its lower edge above but close to said sloping surface to form therewith a descending upwardly-open substantially V-shaped "groove spiralling outward and downward from said inner turn to said outer turn, said V-shaped groove being bounded outwardly by an inner upright article-engaging wall of said turns and downwardly by said sloping substantially-conical surface, said inner end of said inner turn starting at the periphery of said a small feed area and forming with the next outer turn a mouth opening on said feed area;

means for receiving a mass of said uninformly-shaped I medicinal articles tobe counted and for dropping same into said feed area from a position above said apex at. a limited delivery rate, said last-named means having a discharge end substantially directly above said central apex of said substantially-conical surface;

means for rotating said platform about said vertical axis at a speed to effect rolling of said uniformlyshaped medicinal articles downwardly along said V- shaped groove; i

and means for delaying the flow of the row of uniformly shaped medicinal articles resting on said conical sloping surface and engaging the inner upright article-engaging wall for creating temporary gaps in said row to allow stray tablets inwardly of said row resting on said sloping surface to move into line between tablets of said row, said means comprising a plurality of vertically-disposed inwardly-rounded obstructions spaced from each other along said inner article-engaging wall, each obstruction being attached to said article-engaging wall and extending therefrom toward the opposed turn a distance less than half the diameter of each of said medicinal articles.

2. An article-counting apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said inner article-engaging wall of said turns of said spiral wall is vertical, and in which said outer turn of said spiral wall forms with said substantially-conical surface and theimmediately inward turn a discharge passage tangential to said conical surface, and including a short stationary wall positioned outwardly of and tangential to said circular periphery of said conical surface forming an extension of said outer turn and extending from a position adjacent the periphery of said platform to said counting station to guide the articles thereto while moving in single file in a tangential direction, a chute formed of impervious transparent material extending across and guiding said single-file articles across said counting station, and a light source directing a beam of light through said chute.

3. An article-counting apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the slope of said substantially-conical surface is in the neighborhood of about 30 from the horizontal, and in which the distance between said central apex and said inner end of said spiral wall is less than about A the radial distance between said central apex and the periphery of said platform.

4. In an article-counting apparatus for use by a pharmacist in the prescription counting of numbers of uniformly shaped medicinal articles including tablets and capsules encountered in various shapes and sizes in the medicinal art, said apparatus having a counting means at V a counting station, a device for arranging'a group of said articles ins'ingle file for presentation to said counting station, said device including: I

a unitary platform having an upper substantially-conical sloping surface extending outward and downward from a central apex to a circular periphery as a surface of revolution about a vertical axis; an upright stationary spiral wall spiralling upward in severalspaced spiral turnsfrom an outer turn ter-' minating in an end adjacent said circular periphery and said counting station to an inner turn terminating in an inner end relatively close to said apex, the space between said inner turn forming a small feed area around said apex, said spiral Wall having its lower edge above but close to said sloping surface to form therewith a descending substantially V- shaped groove spiralling outward and downward from said inner turn to said outer tum, said V-shaped groove being bounded outwardly by an inner upright article-engaging wall of said turns and downwardly by said sloping substantially-conical surface, said inner end of said inner turn starting at the periphery of said small feed area and forming with the next outer turn a mouth opening on said feed area;

8 limited delivery rate to drop toward said central apex;

means for rotating said platform about said vertical axis at a speed to efifect rolling of said articles down-.

Wardiy along said V-shaped groove; and

means for locally disturbing the flow of all of said References Cited in the file of this patent means for receiving a mass of said articles to be count- 15 ed and for dropping same into said feed area from UNITED STATES PATENTS a position above said apex at a limited delivery rate 1,330,219 Rockwell Feb. 10, 1920 including an article-receiving bin receiving said mass 1,862,351 Hagiwara June 7, 1932 of articles to be counted, said bin having a discharge 2,059,398 Roenier Nov. 3, 1936 spout, a hollow cylinder continuous from end to end 20 2,523,517 Potter Sept. 26, 1950 having an entrance end opening on said spout and an 2,53 5,476 Anderson Dec. 26, 1950 open exit end having a discharge lip disposed sub- 2,594,337 Noe Apr. 29, 1952 stantially vertically above said central apex, a con- 2,690,856 Trondle Oct. 5, 1954 tinuous helical groove in the inner wall of said hol- 2,718,957 S nrlin Sept. 27, 1955 loW cylinder, and means for turning said hollow 25 2,723,742 Marshall Nov, 15, 1955 cylinder about its axis to retard said mass of arti- 2,941,651 Hutter et a1 June 21, 1960 cles poured into said bin and discharge same at said 2,941,652 Miller June 21, 1960 3,015,378 Thurlings Jan. 2, 1962 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3,133,624 May 19, 1964 Burnie M. Craig v It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 62, for "may" read many column 2, line 19, for "or" read of column 3 line 54, strike out "outside"; column 5, line 30, strike out "The foregoing minimum force or rotating force"; lines 39 and 62, for "tables", each occurrence, read tablets Signed and sealed this 9th day of February 1965.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Aitcsting Officer Commissioner of Patents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 133,624 May 19, 1964 Burnie M. Craig It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 62 for "may" read many column 2, line l9,- for "or" read of column 3, line 54L strike out "outside"; column 5, line 30, strike out "The foregoing minimum force or rotating force"; lines 39 and 62, for "tables", each occurrence, read tablets Signed and sealed this 9th day of February 1965..

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER EDWARD J. BRENNER Attcsting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. IN AN ARTICLE-COUNTING APPARATUS FOR USE BY A PHARMACIST IN THE PRESCRIPTION COUNTING OF NUMBERS OF UNIFORMLY SHAPED MEDICINAL ARTICLES INCLUDING TABLES AND CAPSULES ENCOUNTERED IN VARIOUS SHAPES AND SIZES IN THE MEDICINAL ART, SAID APPARATUS HAVING A COUNTING MEANS AT A COUNTING STATION, A DEVICE FOR ARRANGING A GROUP OF SAID ARTICLES IN SINGLE FILE FOR PRESENTATION TO SAID COUNTING STATION, SAID DEVICE INCLUDING: A UNITARY PLATFORM HAVING AN UPPER SUBSTANTIALLY-CONICAL SLOPING SURFACE EXTENDING OUTWARD AND DOWNWARD FROM A CENTRAL APEX TO A CIRCULAR PERIPHERY AS A SURFACE OF REVOLUTION ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS; AN UPRIGHT STATIONARY SPIRAL WALL SPIRALLING UPWARD IN SEVERAL SPACED SPIRAL TURNS FROM AN OUTER TURN TERMINATING IN AN END ADJACENT SAID CIRCULAR PERIPHERY AND SAID COUNTING STATION TO AN INNER TURN TERMINATING IN AN INNER END RELATIVELY CLOSE TO SAID APEX AT A POSITION LESS THAN HALF THE RADIAL DISTANCE FROM SAID APEX TO SAID CIRCULAR PERIPHERY, THE SPACE WITHIN SAID INNER TURN FORMING A SMALL FEED AREA AROUND SAID APEX, SAID SPIRAL WALL HAVING ITS LOWER EDGE ABOVE BUT CLOSE TO SAID SLOPING SURFACE TO FORM THEREWITH A DESCENDING UPWARDLY-OPEN SUBSTANTIALLY V-SHAPED GROOVE SPIRALLING OUTWARD AND DOWNWARD FROM SAID INNER TURN TO SAID OUTER TURN, SAID V-SHAPED GROOVE BEING BOUNDED OUTWARDLY BY AN INNER UPRIGHT ARTICLE-ENGAGING WALL OF SAID TURNS AND DOWNWARDLY BY SAID SLOPING SUBSTANTIALLY-CONICAL SURFACE, SAID INNER END OF SAID INNER TURN STARTING AT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID SMALL FEED AREA AND FORMING WITH THE NEXT OUTER TURN A MOUTH OPENING ON SAID FEED AREA; MEANS FOR RECEIVING A MASS OF SAID UNINFORMLY-SHAPED MEDICINAL ARTICLES TO BE COUNTED AND FOR DROPPING SAME INTO SAID FEED AREA FROM A POSITION ABOVE SAID APEX AT A LIMITED DELIVERY RATE, SAID LAST-NAMED MEANS HAVING A DISCHARGE END SUBSTANTIALLY-CONICAL SURFACE; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID PLATFORM ABOUT SAID VERTICAL AXIS AT A SPEED TO EFFECT ROLLING OF SAID UNIFORMLYSHAPED MEDICINAL ARTICLES DOWNWARDLY ALONG SAID VSHAPED GROOVE; AND MEANS FOR DELAYING THE FLOW OF THE ROW OF UNIFORMLY SHAPED MEDICINAL ARTICLES RESTING ON SAID CONICAL SLOPING SURFACE AND ENGAGING THE INNER UPRIGHT ARTICLE-ENGAGING WALL FOR CREATING TEMPORARY GAPS IN SAID ROW TO ALLOW STRAY TABLETS INWARDLY OF SAID ROW RESTING ON SAID SLOPING SURFACE TO MOVE INTO LINE BETWEEN TABLETS OF SAID ROW, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY-DISPOSED INWARDLY-ROUNDED OBSTRUCTIONS SPACED FROM EACH OTHER ALONG SAID INNER ARTICLE-ENGAGING WALL, EACH OBSTRUCTION BEING ATTACHED TO SAID ARTICLE-ENGAGING WALL AND EXTENDING THEREFROM TOWARD THE OPPOSED TURN A DISTANCE LESS THAN HALF THE DIAMETER OF EACH OF SAID MEDICINAL ARTICLES. 